Ship Scrambling and Other Upcoming Features

[N-Sunderland]

http://gunsoficarus.com/community/blog/november-at-muse/

I've got to say, a lot of these sound really, really exciting (player slot swap? Yes please!).

Based on what the post says about the ship-scrambling situation... I don't think it'll solve stacking. Here's what I expect to happen:

-Stacked team gets on win streak
-Stacked team is one win away from scrambling
-Stacked team surrenders the next match

Or, if they're doing it for bounty points or trying to get a long streak going:

-Stacked team gets on win streak
-Stacked team is one win away from scrambling
-Stacked team goes and makes another lobby

[HamsterIV]

I am actually quite happy for this feature. Now if I loose enough games against crazy good pilots I will have a chance to fly on the same team as those crazy good pilots after the scramble. Most of us say match stacking is not malicious. This will give us a chance to prove it. Players will have to go out of their way to abuse the system and if they do, we will know them for the jerks they are.

[Asteria Bisset]

I'm actually more interested in the Database optimization. Since that means it's easier to get content out and it ends up better on the player side too.

[RearAdmiralZill]

I'm actually more interested in the Database optimization. Since that means it's easier to get content out and it ends up better on the player side too.

That is +1. Any optimization is nice.

As for Swap. Yes, that's great.

As for Scramble, no, it's not going to "solve" a thing. (And if it's due to the bounty system, get rid of it. It's apparently just brought the worst out of people for, what I feel no gain.)

Any team, stacked or not, that bumps that limit, will simply make a new lobby after a quick crew formation.

we will know them for the jerks they are.

And this notion that me wishing to play with people I like/know somehow makes me a jerk is why it's just going to sour the community vs do anything positive. I don't like stacked games. I get no joy in it, and being on the receiving end sucks. That said, i know that 95% of the time when that scramble moves me, ill want to just make a new lobby.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

So if we can enable or disable it for private, why not just give the lobby creator the same option for public?

This is all well and good and will appease the short time player who comes in, gets his ass whooped and then QQs to Muse about stacking, never to play the game again. But why should friends and allies be forced to swap with players that likely don't listen, don't want to listen, and will likely rage quit the first chance they get? I get why your doing it but I'd rather leave and find a new lobby than be paired with a bunch of kids running a joke build just because they just want to screw around. I've tried to talk to kids doing that in the past, they just tell you to piss off then shout over voice chat till you block them.

I've had more captains appreciate fellow captains that communicate than those who don't. Some who when they hear you actually employing a sense of tactics, don't want to leave your side. Scrambling won't solve the problem, they'll just make a new lobby and reset.

I'm not saying not do it, but I'm saying just make it optional all around. Or set it so that it only counts 5-0 or 7-0 wins. Course there is another issue. Often times teams do not stick around after a 5-0. So this makes it pointless.

[Asteria Bisset]

If my understanding of scrambling is correct, is it that an entire team of four players gets swapped over to the other side once one stacked side gets on a win streak. I don't really know if Scrambling will help, as great as that sounds. From my experience, players will actually scramble themselves if they feel like they're pub stomping to give other teams a fighting chance if they're cool with the team. The community is generally cool and chill enough to do that on their own. If you want to implement an option to do that within the system, that's fantastic (I'm already stoked on the idea of Slot Swapping with people). I'm not entirely sure on the automatic aspect of it.

In general, even if I'm losing, I don't mind it as much if I actually LIKE THE ENEMY TEAM. They earned their wins and they're typically cool with me as long as they know I'm trying my best to trump them at their own game. That's the power the cooperative play aspect has had on the game. Most of us have come to some fluid understanding of each other through our cooperation with and against people. Does scrambling help? Maybe. Maybe not. Will it change how the players feel about going against a stacked team? Not entirely sure. It's entirely subjective to every person.

[Imagine]

I'm not a fan. Anything that forces players to possibly not play with friends seems like a bad way to go, and I'm talking about full teams, not just individual ships.

I'm pretty sure most of us don't really like pubstomping, but I also feel like lately there's been perhaps too much response from Muse folks to supposed problems that are brought up on the forums once or twice.

[N-Sunderland]

I've asked this so many times, and I'll ask it again, because I really think it would help lessen the disparity often seen in some matches much more than any kind of scrambling system.

Why are the tutorials not mandatory?

[Asteria Bisset]

We'll have to see how it goes. I honestly think that just leaving it at Slot Swapping would be enough since players could easily just jump ships when they think the other team needs assistance. If you consult your original ship first then swap, typically they should be okay with it. But swapping out entire ships on an automatic basis seems like a huge game changer and would change the dynamic between the teams.

I honestly feel like some kind of Mentoring system would have been better to implement first. It would have the more experienced people help out these more inexperienced players actively. Then you could try out the Scrambling if the Scrambling solution is needed. But it's Muse's call.

[Piemanlives]

Why are the tutorials not mandatory?

Even though I'll wholeheartedly agree with this, I feel even with it, it's still not enough for the average player to use in a combat situation, sure it gives you a good framework from which to build off of with experience, but will they actually stick around long enough to gain that experience? Again that's another subject entirely, but on the case of team stacking however, I know a decent amount of players will say to relatively low leveled players that they are looking for a challenge, not a pubstomp, should they stay, they are either looking for a challenge or aren't listening in the first place. While I feel that the new system is interesting I think like others have said they might just relocate the team/friends and continue on, it might discourage it to a degree but it'll still happen in any case.

[HamsterIV]

we will know them for the jerks they are.

And this notion that me wishing to play with people I like/know somehow makes me a jerk is why it's just going to sour the community vs do anything positive. I don't like stacked games. I get no joy in it, and being on the receiving end sucks. That said, i know that 95% of the time when that scramble moves me, ill want to just make a new lobby.

Not sharing the joy of flying with a well coordinated team with new players makes you a jerk. People are buying this game and leaving it because they don't get the chance to experience what it has to offer. If The experienced players stick to their friend's list and clan rosters, the casual player will not going to see high level play from any angle but the victim's.

Unless you have been at the cutting edge of the meta since beta someone had to coach you on what to bring and what weapons work well together. Someone had to show you how to divide up tasks on a ship to keep it at optimal performance. Someone had to shoot that blender fish off your balloon when you flew into a trap. Flying with your friends is fine but be that "someone" to a new player as well.

A game community can't survive off the hard core. We need the people who fly for 2 hours on the weekend to pad our ranks. Those people aren't going to stick with this game if all they experience is a constant string of losses from vets. Lets throw them a bone every once in a while and let them what winning feels like.

[RearAdmiralZill]

If you truly believe that is all we do vs having randoms on our boats from time to time, then you are a bit short sighted. You are also naive to think that all of those players are willing to accept our advice when we provide it. Less then half of them in my most recent experiences have the want to learn more, let alone communicate in any fashion whatsoever.

A great game community needs people who want to play the game for what it is, not say "ready up" every 10 seconds, leave matches when they die once,  and ignore the help we try to give.

Scrambling the boats by force isn't going to solve anything, unless the number of lobbies waiting to play was too low.

[Cl ick to Ca p t ain]

If you truly believe that is all we do vs having randoms on our boats from time to time, then you are a bit short sighted. You are also naive to think that all of those players are willing to accept our advice when we provide it. Less then half of them in my most recent experiences have the want to learn more, let alone communicate in any fashion whatsoever.

A great game community needs people who want to play the game for what it is, not say "ready up" every 10 seconds, leave matches when they die once,  and ignore the help we try to give.

Scrambling the boats by force isn't going to solve anything, unless the number of lobbies waiting to play was too low.

As much as it pains me there is too much truth in this post, so few new players are willing to be taught the game. Most look at the loadout system as if it were some sort of personalization for them to pick and choose and not as a piece of the ship's loadout to be put together by the captain. More often than not when I get randoms either they are insistent on bringing what they want and argue when requests are made otherwise, or simply loadout the way they want and sit silently ignoring any advice given.

That being said I am also against this scrambling idea, it just seems like an attempt to try something different while avoiding the idea of including a higher level of game lobbies, IE Beginner<Casual<Competitive lobbies. It's a neat idea, that I haven't personally seen done before, and you can tell Muse's heart is in the right place. But I think it will just lead to the "stacked" teams leaving for new lobbies instead though.

[HamsterIV]

I would argue some more but I just flew three games with a whiny 14 year old who knew everything. Screw them all.

[Urz]

And this notion that me wishing to play with people I like/know somehow makes me a jerk is why it's just going to sour the community vs do anything positive. I don't like stacked games. I get no joy in it, and being on the receiving end sucks. That said, i know that 95% of the time when that scramble moves me, ill want to just make a new lobby.

Yep.

All this will do is unnecessarily kill active game lobbies.